Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) was the 45th President of the United States (2017 - 2021). As president Trump was mired by the Late 2010s Recession. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt and attempted a policy of appeasement with the Russian Federation in the Caucasus and Ukraine. He was hobbled by a myriad of scandals such as the revelation of the Little Wall Street Affair. President Trump is remembered as a symbol of early 21st Century nationalism, and is routinely placed near the bottom in historical rankings of U.S. Presidents. 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign between Clinton, Trump, and Johnson was conducted during a period of extreme social division within the United States and the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. His campaign was predicated on the idea that the success of the Obama administration had failed the bulk of the country and his opponent was corrupt. The election of 2016 was one of the most divisive of the 21st Century, with none of the three candidates having favorables higher than their unfavorables, and the persistent cloud of social tension resulting from a string of mass shootings and recorded incidents of racially motivated police shootings. Additionally, this election took place during height of period of rising nationalism that had swept the western world, exemplified by the British referendum to exit the European Union. Trump ultimately won with 290 electoral votes. However, Clinton won the popular vote, and it also soon became clear Trump never thought he would win. This reinforced speculation and belief that he would be a one-term president. Presidency, 2017–21 At the time, Trump was the oldest person elected to the office of the presidency (at 70). In his first inaugural address on January 20, 2017, he addressed the country's anxiety toward another cold war with the Russians, promising to restore friendly relations and redouble American efforts against jihadist forces. Trump argued that America must move beyond pre-emptive and unilateral war, and instead encourage and support local powers, only getting directly involved when all other options have been exhausted. By the end of his term he would expand on this definition stating in a national address following the NATO's blocking of sanctions against the Eurasian Union, "The US must be free to pursue its national interests," going on to state, "When old institutions become corrupted, we have no reason to keep working with them." This speech would come with the announcement that the US would be curtailing its support for NATO. 'Foreign Policy' 'War against ISIS President Trump entered office with ISIS on the defensive after the Battle of Mosul, and hoped that by restoring friendly relations with the Russians, he could lead the country to victory against ISIS with Russia as a major ally. After his historic meeting with Vladimir Putin, this strategy seemed to have worked. Russia and the US conducted joint airstrikes against ISIS, and the US was able to reduce funding to rebel groups against Assad's regime in Damascus. This alliance even made it possible for the US to restore friendly relations with Erdogan's regime in Turkey, leading to a successful joint invasion of the Islamic State's capital al Raqqa by the Turks with air support from the US and Russians in 2017 After the fall of al Raqqa, Trump would spend much of his term in an effort to formalize the tentative alliance system that began under the Obama administration with Turkey and Iran, despite being publicly opposed to the agreement made between the US and Iran during his predecessor's term. Trump pushed Turkey and Iran to take a leading roll in securing the region, recognizing Iran's dominion over the Persian Gulf and Turkey's power in the Levant as the Saudi Monarchy continued to crumble. As Russia became a more pressing threat in the eyes of the public, the US was able to largely disengage from the Levant and Iraq, reducing its air campaign to a protecting strategic interests. However, by 2018, the remnants of ISIS that had gone to ground after al Raqqa had begun a persistent campaign of terror over not just Iraq and Syria, but had spread south into Saudi Arabia and Jordan, further destabilizing the region. 'Little Cold War' Trump's parternship with the Russians in Syria attempted to deescalate the Little Cold War, despite extreme pressure from international allies and domestic foreign policy experts. With Russia's invasion of the Ukraine in 2017, however, these attempts began to look naive to the majority of the American public. Many Democratic lawmakers began calling for investigations into Trump's dealings with the Russians, citing accusations during the 2016 campaign of financial dealings with Moscow. After the 2018 Midterms, the House Government Oversight Committee began an investigation into the financial holdings of the President, and while the results of the investigation were embarrassing, they failed to unearth any clear evidence of impropriety. Trump pursued a military buildup to counter Russian aggression, and ordered a massive restructuring of the United States Armed Forces including: reviving the DDG1000 Zumwalt program that had been curtailed by the Obama administration, pushing for the development of a new generation of advanced drones (most famously the SR-72), and pushing for a "1 to 1" policy for the submarine and surface fleets. In response to Russian deployment of the CSS-01 Anti-satellite, Trump called for more funding to shipborne lasers and in-space servicing satellites. The Little Cold War spurred a new era in spaceflight as the US military began to realize its position in space was no longer unassailable. To counter Russian anti-satellite technologies, billions of dollars were pumped into upgrading US launch capabilities, developing in-orbit refueling capabilities, and expanded communications networks. 'Economy' In late 2017 the US economy had slipped into a recession that would last until March 2019 and saw a 1.7% contraction of the GDP. Unemployment rates briefly rose above 7%, largely due to service industry layoffs. Trump responded with the lowering of interest rates, increasing infrastructure spending and pushing existing defense projects to begin work ahead of schedule. Despite this, the Republican party lost control of the Senate in the 2018 midterms, and narrowly held the House. By Fall of 2019 unemployment began to fall below pre-recession levels in the US. Economic stagnation, however, remained constant, and wealth continued to be concentrated more towards urban areas and the wealthy. This trend led to greater hostility toward Trump by his base of support among rural and midwestern whites. By 2019, the recession, combined with the increased prevalence of Democratic-leaning Millennials in the work force and the dissatisfaction among Republicans with Trump's apparent inability to follow through within more grandiose campaign promises, had caused public opinion to turn heavily against Trump. He ran for re-election in 2020, but was defeated by Democrat Martin O'Malley. This, combined with the Republicans finally losing the House, was the final nail in the coffin for the Republican Party; it was officially disbanded the following year. 'Little Wall Street Affair' In 2020, it was discovered that upper-level White House Staff had been involved in insider trading. Little Wall Street was named for the collection of offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where the conspirators worked. President Trump was subpoenaed and investigated, however, it was determined that Trump was not aware of the activities of Little Wall Street. The scandal was the low point of the Trump administration, coming on the heels of the 2020 election, and derailing him in his bid for a majority in the electoral college. This would ensure the election of Martin O'Malley, and that the Democrats would obtain full control of Congress. 'Puerto Rico' In 2017, Puerto Rico, facing bankruptcy and limited access to the protections enjoyed by the rest of the United States, formally petitioned the US Congress for Statehood. Trump and the Republican controlled Congress opposed the statehood movement, but after the Democrats took back control of the Senate, bringing the Commonwealth into the Union as the 51st State became a wedge issue. In February 2019 the Puerto Rico Admission Act was introduced in the Senate to dissolve the territorial status of Puerto Rico along with the US Virgin Islands, and admit them to the Union as a single state. With the warming of relations with Cuba, many investors in the continental United States were already preparing to take advantage of a boom in the Caribbean as previously inaccessible areas of investment became available. Some of these investors, unsatisfied with the pace of Cuba's economic transition wished to divert resources to Puerto Rico, and a strong lobbying effort for statehood began. The rush of investors and access to federal bankruptcy protections would eventually spurr a number of other territories in the Gulf of Mexico to seek closer ties to the United States. Trump directly opposed Puerto Rican statehood, and his statements on the matter stirred up outrage among voters in the Southwest. It would prove to be a significant issue in the 2020 elections. '2020 presidential campaign' The 2017 recession caused irreparable damage to Trump's image as president. Many blue-collar workers, the traditional bedrock of the Republican party, began to privately or publicly distance themselves from him, citing his inability to follow through with his grandiose promises as a factor. Further confounding the issue was the fact that around this time many Millennials were entering the work force, taking their traditionally Liberal beliefs with them. Mexican immigrants, something Trump had never truly been able to suppress despite many attempts, also increased in number. By 2020 Trump's once-massive support was faltering, and he lost the election that year to BLANK. Category:Presidents of the United States